The Pope recently published an encyclical letter on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Heart of Jesus, which celebrates the 350th anniversary of the manifestation of the Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673, the origin of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The encyclical letter “Dilexit nos” (“He Loved Us,” Romans 8:37), published by Pope Francis in October 2024, offers a reflection on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ.
It provides a theological, biblical, and mystical reading of the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus, naturally fitting into Pope Francis’s pastoral vision. This encyclical aims to renew the understanding and interpretation of the devotion to the Heart of Jesus for our time. The criteria for discernment and interpretation it presents have been applied in recent years to the renewal of the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus within the Pope’s Prayer Network.
The Way of the Heart, the specific way of living the spirituality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, finds in this Encyclical an important confirmation and theological clarification of its spiritual foundations, while developing its own apostolic dynamic in service of the Church’s mission.
In the document prepared by Fr. Frederic Fornos SJ, International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (2014-2024), ‘The spirituality of the Heart of Jesus inspires and energizes the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network today,’ he outlines three points:
- The spiritual foundation of the Apostleship of Prayer, now the Worldwide Prayer Network, is the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus.
- How the Apostleship of Prayer has understood, embodied, and promoted the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus throughout its history.
- How the renewal of this spirituality energizes our mission today, driving us toward a mission of compassion for humanity.